Hayner Makes The Best of A Tough Situation
GMAC/Trenton Forging ...

Sonoma, Calif. -- July 17, 2004 Starting at the back of the field after
officials disallowed the qualifying time of the GMAC/Trenton Forging
#5 GTO, Stu Hayner felt he had a top 10 car for Sunday's SPEED World
Challenge GT Round 4 in conjunction with the Grand Prix of Sonoma at
Infineon Speedway. Unfortunately, a faulty rear suspension upright got
in his way.

"That was a scary ride," said a wide-eyed Hayner after the race.
"Since we were starting at the back of the field, Rob [crew chief, Rob
Wanamaker] made the decision to start the race on stickers and go for
it. Every time I put my foot into the throttle the car would squat down
and then recoil in an odd way. The only thing I could guess was we
either had bad tires or a flat tire. When the first yellow came out I
simply had to pit."

"The tire change seemed to help but then it got bad again," Hayner
continued. "All I could do was ride it out. I drove it the best I could
but to say it was a handful is an understatement. I can't recall a car
ever feeling that way."

Hayner nursed the car home in a respectable 18th position. A post race
inspection by the crew revealed that the holes in an aluminum suspension
upright had elongated and were moving about under acceleration. The part
will be retooled and replaced for Portland.

In other event activity, the team is releasing a new #5 GTO/Stu Hayner
souvenir poster to given free to fans attending the Infineon race and
next week's event in Portland.